Bless My Heart I Married A Yankee

I think I mentioned in a previous blog entry that we messed up when it came to germinating our pepper seeds this year.  The first round did not go well.  Next round went some better but the picture above is of my pepper plants I did all on my own.  I did not do our normal procedure, all I did was stick the seeds in a peat pod and water then until some grew.   What I have pictured are the ones Scott really wanted to make sure we had growing.  I just re-potted them this morning.  MOA (on the red solo cups) stands for Minster of Agriculture Scotch Bonnet .  They were seeds we ordered about 3 or 4 years ago and are suppose to be certified coming from Jamaica true Scotch Bonnet peppers. A scotch bonnet peppers is a stable for the Carribean people.  It is between 100,000 and 350,000 on the scoville scale, which means it is about 12 to 140 times hotter than your average jalapeno. This is the tradition pepper used in a lot of Carribean cooking and most especially  jerk sau

Growing up I did not enjoy having to eat leftovers.  It took me going to college to appreciate them.  I have to say though here lately I have reverted to my childhood and do not care much for leftovers again.  Maybe it is because it is hard to cook for 2 or just maybe when we cook we make way too much.   I am not a big beef eater.  Really not too kine on any types of meats on a regular basis.  I prefer seafood and vegetables.  I eat more chicken than beef.  BUT when I crave beef I just have to have it.   This past Friday we went down to Matt and Brooke's house to hang out and have some longhorn burgers, thanks to our friend Jared.  I really was not craving beef of any kind but when Matt dropped by and then called Jared about getting some ground meat my mouth started watering.  His Longhorn meat is oh my goodness smack my mom good!!   Saturday we worked in the garden.  Scott more then I.  I cut the fingertip of my index finger on my right hand.  Try doing something with a

Today I noticed that the eggplant was looking a bit shriveled up.  I also had a lot of zucchini I needed to use and soon.  As I pondered and searched on the internet I just could not decide what I wanted to make.  Well, my normal go-to for summertime veggie dish is a nice vegetarian lasagna.  Yeah, it is hot outside but this still is a refreshing dish.  Ya just have to let it rest a bit before eating.   I will not put this together yet due to the fact it makes a ton of food and since Scott is still out of town.  There is just no way I could eat it all.  Normally in late July I make several up and freeze them for winter time meals.   While looking at those poor pitiful vegetables I decided to go ahead and grill up my veggies so I can put this together at the end of the week.   Here is a sneak preview of my eggplant and my zucchini.  It is really rather simple, I just spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and Italian seasonings.  Pop them on the grill and cook

According to my weather app on my cell phone, it feels like 100 degrees here in my neck of the woods and I have to agree with it.  It is really hot and steamy outside.  Miserably hot out there.   Nothing turns my stomach more than the sticky heat of summer.  One still has to eat though.  Fruit and various salads are a staple for me during this time of the summer.  Lots of cucumber or lemon water to quench my thirst too.  That is why when Mari and Tammy were talking about this salad I had to try it.  With that said it is adapted from A Spicy Perspective.  It is called Garlic Lime roasted shrimp but I changed it to make the salad part more like guacamole, well except for the addition of cucumbers and of course the shrimp. I love  guacamole .  I love it on sandwiches, wraps, salads and well just about anything.   Well with that heat index outside in this part of the South we need some that is cool and refreshing for our meals.   I decided to make the salad part first so I g

OK, the heat has hit hard in NC this week and it is only Tuesday!!  Last night I took Charley out to potty before bedtime, which was at 10:32 and it was still over 80 and the humidity was just horrible.  Needless to say, it is supposed to be miserable all week.  It is 82 right now but feels more like 90.  It is only June!!  What the heck. With it being so miserably hot outside I have to be very diligent with all the rabbits and quail.  You would not believe all the work they are because the heat will kill em' in a heartbeat.  Matter of a fact we lost 2 quail Sunday night.  I try to get out no later than 6:30 am to feed and water the animals.  I also have to water the garden and other plants.  I go out a few hours later and put frozen water bottles out for them and also replenish their water.  This goes on every couple of hours with ice, new water, cold veggies and then again before dark to take up the water bottles and fill their water bowls up one more time.   Well, they

I have not had a really good crab cake in 10 years and by that, I mean REALLY GOOD ones.  A delicious crab cake has just the correct amount of moisture but it still holds together when you make the patties.  You want to be able to create the patties with your hand and it will not fall apart.  You need really good lump crabmeat and if you can find fresh it is even better.  Another reason why so many people wind up with a bland crab cake is they use too much filling.  You have to find the correct blend and you want about double the amount of crabmeat to the ratio of filling.  I have tried over and over to get that mix just right and I think I finally have done it.   This recipe is adapted from skinnytaste but I put my own spin on it.  I actually combine my recipe with this one.  I wanted a spicier taste in my crab cake.   I did not fry these babies up.  I did not want all the fat and grease.  I wanted to be able to attempt to duplicate the awesomeness of the ones I had when